I thought this misattributed quote was appropriate for today:
The only two certainties in life are death and taxes
Benjamin Disraeli
(often incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain, who was himself quoting it)
I got into the subject of the misattributed when I was reading the Wikipedia article on Andrew Jackson which says that he never actually said "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!" The gist of the quote (as I understand it) more or less does express Jackson's actual position. The supreme court sided with the Caerokee and against the state of Georgia, but with deliberate non-intervention by the federal government the Cherokees were eventually removed in the embarrassment which is the Trail of Tears.
I first heard the quote in an episode of
This American Life in which Sarah Vowell retraces the Trail of Tears with her sister. It's just disappointing when I find out that a historian that I respect is recycling inaccuracies. In her defense, it is only Wikipedia, so who knows? It might be an accurate quote after all. It's hard to say for sure. "He who controls the present, controls the past." I looked that one up on-line just now. I am sure that isn't quoted correctly either.
Other things misattributed:
"Al Gore said he 'invented the Internet'."
"George Washington said 'I cannot tell a lie. It was I who chopped down the cherry tree.'"
"George Bush said 'The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for
entrepreneur.'"
